China’s Central Bank Files Patent for Digital Currency Wallet

“The results of the transaction queries include the digital currency type, amount, source currency, as well as the identification of the source and destination wallets.”

The Digital Currency Research Lab at People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has applied for a new patent this week for a digital currency wallet allows users to track their transaction histories. The application was submitted with China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) on Friday, June 22.

The new patent outlines how digital wallets track transaction data in cooperation with a centralized digital currency issuance registration agency. The wallet will enable multi-signature security and private keys to manage encrypted digital assets.The results of the transaction queries include the digital currency type, amount, source currency, as well as the identification of the source and destination wallets.

This week’s new patent is a part of a longer-term vision for blockchain integration pursued by China’s central bank. Although the government maintains a hardline stance on decentralized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), the People’s Bank of China has been extensively investigating the benefits of its technology for the existing financial system.

Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the PBoC, has suggested that the digital currencies will eventually diminish cash circulation and are “technologically inevitable,” while stressing the role of PBoC in controlling the “unpredictable effects” of certain applications of blockchain.

This month, the PBoC has published a new blockchain-powered system with smart contract functionality designed to tokenize paper checks.It is reported that, beyond PBoC, in 2017 China as a whole was reported to have filed more blockchain tech patents than any other country with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

【Declaration: Please contact us at contact@unitimes.media if you want to repost this article and indicate the source. Opinions expressed by Contributors belong to themselves.】